Image: God laid it on Tage Bechmann's heart to work for the persecuted Christians.
Mona and Tage Bechmann welcome you to their lovely home in Gilleleje for a talk about the work for persecuted Christians in the years around the fall of the Berlin Wall. Tage had been a consultant for the Blue Cross, a primary school teacher and headmaster at Nordsjællands Efterskole from 1981 to 1987, before becoming editor of the Danish European Mission's press agency Daneu Press and head of information until 1990.
Have you been smuggling Bibles?
- Secretary General Rene Hartzner (RH) wanted to show me some of the main areas of the Danish European Mission's wide-ranging work in Eastern Europe, which at that time lived behind the iron curtain of communism from the free West. With his 30 years of experience in mission behind the Iron Curtain, he was not only an experienced driver of the Danish European Mission's Volkswagensrugbrød, but also familiar with the work in many of the mission's main areas. The first trip was to Poland.
RH was annoyed when we got to the border and customs: "Oh, now I forgot the carton of cigarettes I usually carry to make it easier to cross the border into Poland." In the large trunk of the Volkswagen, under well-cluttered blankets and sleeping bags, there were boxes of children's and adult Bibles. The customs officer discovered them and took three different children's Bibles, and we thought: "So, what now?" We waited for about 20 minutes and then he came back and asked: "Can I have three more?" For me, it was a fantastic experience and entry into the work of the Danish European Mission that we could get through the border gates to communist Poland with the help of Bibles.
Was his reaction an expression of spiritual hunger?
- Yes, it was shortly before the Berlin Wall fell and still a dark time, but about 95 % of adult Poles were Catholics, and I always believed that the customs officer had three children at home who should each have a Bible. On this and other trips we saw a spiritual need and that churches were being built all over Poland, which the Poles paid for themselves.
There was a vibrant underground church in Eastern Europe that had to gather in secret, and it was incredible to witness the boldness and power of Christians to build gathering places as they gained more freedom up until the collapse of communism in 1989.
From whisky distillery to church
- In southern Poland, we came to a town where I learned the truth of a Polish proverb: "A guest in the home equals God in the home." We were warmly welcomed everywhere and given the best they had in the house to eat - despite the poverty. We were to see a new 1,100-seat church, built with the support of Danish European Mission donors on the ruins of a former whisky distillery, and for a Blue Cross man like me it was very special. From whisky, it was now the word of God that rolled through the large church. It was a very great experience to see for the first time how God can use something that has been reduced to ruins in His service. I couldn't help but share this at the many meetings where I have subsequently spoken about the work of the Danish European Mission.
The trip helped spark my interest in persecuted Christians, because I didn't already have that interest. I had been involved in Inner Mission, YMCA and YWCA, Blue Cross, the local Sudan Mission Circle and KLF, Church & Media, and when I joined the Danish European Mission, persecuted Christians suddenly became very important to me. There are very few days since then that I have not prayed for the persecuted Christians. God put it on my heart to work for them. It was a good experience.
Were you on any other Bible smuggling trips?
- Besides Poland, RH and I visited Romania, Russia, Czechoslovakia and the GDR, and we always brought Bibles, tracts and food for all the Christians we visited.
I don't know how many Bibles and Bible parts I personally helped smuggle in. RH was responsible for packing boxes and much else. Maybe it was a few hundred, but the fact that we came, that we showed the persecuted Christians that they were not forgotten, was probably just as important as me handing out Bibles. We can't always see the fruit of our labor, but we had to believe that God was working through His Holy Spirit.
What was it like to be employed at the Danish European Mission when the Berlin Wall fell?
- We were sitting on the veranda of the head office having lunch and heard on the radio that country after country was falling. There was a euphoric feeling when we heard that the Albanian dictatorship had also fallen. Albania was probably the last country to fall, as the dictatorship was extremely hard on Christians. We didn't shout and scream when we heard the news, but folded our hands, thanked God and prayed for Eastern Europe.
I had three good years at the Danish European Mission and fantastic freedom to plan my work. The next stop was as a journalist and soon after as editor-in-chief of Berlingske's local newspaper in the then two municipalities, Helsinge and Græsted-Gilleleje (now Gribskov Municipality), Tage Bechmann ends our conversation.
